Oberhofen im Elsass — Oberhofen-en-Alsace in French — sits on the Rhine plain south of Strasbourg, a village that passed between German and French administration multiple times across two world wars. This token was issued by a Soldatenheim, literally a "soldiers' home," one of hundreds of welfare canteens established by German military and civilian authorities across occupied and annexed territories during the First World War to provide troops with controlled access to food, drink, and modest recreation. These facilities issued zinc tokens in lieu of currency to limit black-market leakage of Reichsmarks.
The four catalog references confirm this as a documented type, but Soldatenheim issues from Alsace remain poorly represented in major collections.
Oberhofen im Elsass — Oberhofen-en-Alsace in French — sits on the Rhine plain south of Strasbourg, a village that passed between German and French administration multiple times across two world wars. This token was issued by a Soldatenheim, literally a "soldiers' home," one of hundreds of welfare canteens established by German military and civilian authorities across occupied and annexed territories during the First World War to provide troops with controlled access to food, drink, and modest recreation. These facilities issued zinc tokens in lieu of currency to limit black-market leakage of Reichsmarks.
The four catalog references confirm this as a documented type, but Soldatenheim issues from Alsace remain poorly represented in major collections.